August, 2011 ....J.
Dana Hrubes...updated August 31, 2011, 2012 GMT
(CLICK ON UNDERLINED
LINKS FOR
PHOTOS....CLICK
"BACK" ON YOUR BROWSER TO RETURN TO THIS PAGE)
Aurora Australis and our Milky Way galaxy
August is the last full month without the
sun at the geographic South Pole and the last month that we will be
able to clearly see auroral displays. red aurora aurora and the setting moon bright aurora illuminating SPT artistic aurora
The
South Pole Telescope (SPT) backlit by an aurora
moon setting behind the BICEP-2 telescope
The constellation Scorpius above the South Pole Telescope
Near the end of the month we start seeing the first hints of twilight. first twilight first colorful twilight
The South Pole Telescope continued to operate well this past month as
we
are nearing completion of our 5 year wide area galaxy cluster survey
using the
Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect. In addition to conducting normal telescope
operations, data quality analysis and computer software upgrade work,
we also addressed typical troubleshooting and
repair issues.
Numerous technical papers have been published
by the SPT team over the past couple of years on the discovery of
massive galaxy
clusters, their relation to Lambda-CDM cosmology and the impact they
have on the understanding of dark energy.
Other results include the discovery of other point sources such as
dusty
star-forming galaxies and refinements of the cosmic microwave
background (CMB) power spectrum at small angular scales. (click on
technical paper link below)
Next month - September: Sunrise!
Recent
South Pole Telescope Technical Papers
A Real-Time Photo of South Pole Station as Seen
from the ARO
Building (live when satellite is up)
A
Comprehensive
South Pole Web Site by Bill Spindler
Winterover
Web
Pages
(Bill Spindler's List)
BACK
TO MY SOUTH POLE 2011 PAGE
BACK TO MY BI-POLAR HOME PAGE